| 145. Billboard "Top 100? counts YouTube |
| From Interlinc on Monday, February 25, 2013 @ 9:15 AM PST in the "Resources" Category. I wanted to share this story I heard over the weekend. For the first time in its history, this week the Billboard "Top 100″ chart is incorporating YouTube views as a part of the formula for measuring the popularity of ... Continue reading → Read More... |
| 146. Three Tips For Making The Most Out Of A Youth Ministry Conference |
| From youthministry360 on Monday, February 25, 2013 @ 7:11 AM PST in the "Resources" Category. Image courtesy of shutterstock.com / (c) Ariadna De Raadt It's SYMC week which means we're pretty pumped. The Simply Youth Ministry Conference is always one of our favorites, in part because of the emphasis they put on training at a very grassroots, organic level. There are hundreds of hours worth of workshops and peer panels lead by both youth ministry "experts" as well as your average, everyday youth worker in the trenches. We noticed our friend Phil Bell wrote a post on his blog where he lists four tips to making the most of SYMC. (It's a good post. Go check it out.) We decided we'd add to Phil's list with three of our own. Here are three thoughts on getting the most out of a youth ministry conference:Don't Be Afraid To RestI've had this discussion over the years with youth workers and there is a feeling among many that because your church has either paid for you to go, or at least has given you its blessing, that resting is somehow poor stewardship. I disagree. If you asked your Senior Pastor, or whomever your supervisor is, why you were allowed/encouraged to go, I bet the answer isn't "So you would spend all your waking hours in different workshops or seminars." I bet the answer is something like "So that you would grow in your effectiveness as a youth minister." If you can skip a general session or a workshop or two to rest your body and mind, do it. There's a fine line, of course. If you skip a session to veg out and watch SportsCenter, I'm not sure that's as justifiable. ? And if you blow off an entire day (or two) of a conference, you probably are on the wrong side of the stewardship question. However, if missing a few scheduled events contributes to you returning to your church invigorated and refreshed, don't think twice about doing it. Make Time For EvaluationNot of the conference. Of your ministry. So many youth ministers are moving so quickly they rarely get time to step back and evaluate their ministries. Most conferences provide big enough blocks of unscheduled time that you can set aside time to simply think about how things are going. This works even better if you have members of your team with you. It's a great time to think about where you're winning, and where you're coming up short. The cool thing is that you might find workshops or resources that speak to the very areas you need to improve. Learn With The Intent Of ReplicatingNo, I'm not telling you to pirate your favorite author's book. I'm suggesting that you engage with workshops, seminars, and even general sessions with the intent of replicating them for others when you get home. The truth is that most people can't afford to bring their entire team of adult volunteers with them to conferences. And it would be silly to think your local network of youth ministers will all attend. So as you listen and learn, do so with an eye toward coming home and leading these seminars with your adult volunteers, or modeling them for your youth ministry network. I can't speak for every workshop or seminar leader, but I know that I never hesitate to make my Presentation slides available for anyone who wants to go home and lead my workshop with their people. BONUS TIP: It's too late to embrace this for this year's SYMC, but what if instead of you going to a youth ministry conference next year you sent one or two of your adult volunteers instead? What would it do for your youth ministry to have one or two key leaders be able to dramatically increase his or her level of training and inspiration? My hunch is that it would do wonders. Sure, it is tough to give up the chance to attend a conference. But, hey, we're called to be servant leaders, right? In the end, this kind of move could exponentially increase your ministry's effectiveness, which, would be worth it. We hope to see you at SYMC! We'll be leading a few workshops and a peer panel or two. We'll also have a table in the store. Stop by and stay hello. See you there! Read More... |
| 147. Site Upgraded |
| From Pastor2Youth.com on Saturday, February 23, 2013 @ 8:28 PM PST in the "Resources" Category. If you've tried to access pastor2youth and/or the Gold Membership over the last couple of days, you might have encountered a server error (or encountered it multiple times). I apologize for this inconvenience. We have upgraded the server for pastor2youth.com so you should not encounter those problems any longer. If you do, please email me at help@pastor2youth.com with the date and time that you encountered the server error so that I can do some further investigating. Thank you. In His Grips,Ryan Nielsen Read More... |
| 148. Flashback Friday (Feb. 22): This Week's Links From The Youth Ministry Blogosphere |
| From youthministry360 on Friday, February 22, 2013 @ 7:08 AM PST in the "Resources" Category. One of the things we are committed to at ym360 is Networking. Our vision for networking is connecting you to people and organizations doing awesome youth ministry.Flashback Friday is a feature where we give you the run down of some of the awesome posts from the past week across youth ministry blogs. Consider it our way of keeping you connected with what is going on. This week's posts from the ym360 BlogYouth Worker, Go Easy On Yourself! by Bill NanceYouth Worker BOOST: Still Before God by Richard ParkerPaul's Purpose Statement For Youth Ministry by Andy BlanksLinked Post: How To Put Out Fires In Youth Ministry by Andy Blanks Posts From Other Awesome PeopleWe search the Internet to bring you relevant information to help you be a better youth worker. Here are some links from posts we thought were pretty great. The Most Popular Training Method: "I Told Them To" by Doug FranklinThe Power of an Organized Youth Leader by Geoff StewartMake a GOSPEL Wall in your youth room by Greg StierExpectations for Small Group Leaders by Justin KnowlesThe Secret Life of Your Teenager [infographic] by Kolby MiltonFeelings of Inadequacy by Shawn Michael ShoupFaith Ownership In Students: Part 1 – Active or Passive Learning? by Phil BellTurn first-time guests into fully engaged members by Steve A. Caton6 Ways to Show Your Team You Care by Tim Peters That's all the links for this week. As always, have an awesome weekend . . . And THANK YOU for the chance to serve you as part of the ym360 community. Read More... |
| 149. Youth Worker, Go Easy On Yourself! |
| From youthministry360 on Thursday, February 21, 2013 @ 7:41 AM PST in the "Resources" Category. Image courtesy of shutterstock.com / (c) nelik "I blew it again!"With my head on the steering wheel, I sat in the long-empty parking lot of the church. It had been another banner youth group meeting. I had prepared what I thought was a great lesson. But it seemed to go in one ear and out the other. Merely getting through the lesson had been a miracle. Afterwards, I had to break up a "heated discussion" during basketball. That was followed up by a lecture from a parent about how their child's latest misstep was mostly due to something I wasn't doing enough of.As the students filed out that night, I felt like nothing was accomplished whatsoever. Have you ever felt this way? You look at your students and not only does it seem like they haven't taken steps forward, it's as if they've taken two steps back. You teach a lesson, and the next week it feels like you've never talked about it in your life. It feels like your students keep bringing you the same problems over, and over, and over again. Chances are, you've felt this way at some point. And if you have, you know it can be a disheartening and discouraging feeling. You feel like you've done everything you can. Yet on certain days it seems like you've made little impact.If you've been in this situation, I have good news for you: you're in good company. Not only have countless other youth workers felt this same way, from what I can tell, Jesus walked in similar shoes. Think about it. He spent 3 years with his 12 disciples, and at the end of His ministry they seemed little better than in the beginning. The disciples constantly misunderstood and misapplied His teachings. They argued about who was His favorite. Peter denied Him (with some curses thrown in for good measure). And Judas betrayed Him (then killed himself). Even in your worst youth ministry experiences, there's a good chance it was never as bad as all that! And yet, look at the impact the disciples would have. Even though at the end of Jesus' ministry they appeared to have much to learn, these 11 men (plus Paul) would lay the foundation for changing the world. It can be rough when it seems like our students aren't getting it, and it seems like we're doing all we can. But maybe we need to cut ourselves some slack. After all, if Jesus, who was, you know, the Son of God, had to weather the growing pains of His hand picked disciples, maybe we should take our frustrations in stride. Maybe we should take a longer-range view of the fruit we desire to see in our students. This isn't me giving you (or myself) an excuse for doing a bad job. I simply want to encourage in those moments when things seem bleak. Our success is not determined by how our students have responded 5 minutes, 5 hours, 5 weeks, or even 5 years after our small group Bible studies or our "life changing" talks over coffee. Instead, our success will be measured in how well we play our role in helping to lay a faith-foundation. And in most cases, we won't know until years down the road. We may never know. So, let me encourage you to focus on the future, not just the daily grind. Be faithful in shaping them, but trust God to do the life-transforming work that only He can do.Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9) Read More... |
| 150. A Theological Journey Through Youth Ministry: Taking Theology to Youth Ministry, Post 4, Chapter 4 |
| From Youth Specialties on Wednesday, February 20, 2013 @ 12:59 PM PST in the "Resources" Category. In this Andrew Root liveBlog Erik Leafblad and I discuss the need to push youth ministry deeper, asserting that the way we've been doing it hasn't been working. We delve deeply into chapter of Taking Theology to Youth Ministry. Listen below. Listen to internet radio with Andrew Root LiveBlog on Blog Talk Radio Read More... |
| 151. Feelings of Inadequacy |
| From Youth Specialties on Wednesday, February 20, 2013 @ 5:00 AM PST in the "Resources" Category. Ever look to the left of you? And then to the right. And then back to the left again. And just feel overwhelmingly small? Insignificant? Unimportant? Inadequate? I have. LOTS of times. In fact, I struggle with those kinds of feelings far too often. I had a season in junior high / early high school where I was teased, bullied and ridiculed quite frequently. And I think the residue of that still sticks with me. As that hurt and rejected young man, I often thought to myself, "How can I ever measure up?" It seemed like everyone around me was pointing fingers, looking down at me, and utterly unimpressed at who I was -- who I was trying to be. Maybe you experienced something like that at some point in your life. It's easy to let that carry over into your adult life. Here I am. I'm 35 years old. I have about fifteen years of youth ministry experience under my belt. Lots of wins. And, yes, lots of fails. I've learned and grown considerably through it all. And I'm about to help launch a student ministry at our new church. I can still feel the fingers pointing at me. I still look to the left. And to the right. And to the left again. And I wonder to myself, "Am I really relevant anymore? Should I even be doing this? Are the students just gonna laugh?" And I start to feel really inadequate. It's only when I allow Jesus into the conversation that my landscape begins to change. Because when Jesus comes on the scene, He shines light on the dark places inside my spirit-man. He uncovers the lies that I believed, even from way back in junior high school, that have held on and eroded away at the truth. The truth that I am called and equipped by the One who fashioned and formed me. When I talk to Jesus about this, His response is, "Stop comparing yourself, Jack! -- in true Duck Dynasty fashion, because you know that He loves that show -- I didn't mold you or make you to do things like the good ol' boy down the road. I created you to be YOU. So just stop trying to be Joe-Preacher, or Slick-ProPresenter or Awesome-UpFrontGame-Challenge-Dude! Just be you and you'll be the most content, happy and fulfilled youth pastor in the neighborhood." Or at least, that's how He says it in my head. When I start to remember that my identity, my gifts and my calling are from Him, I begin to be able to let go of my feelings of inadequacy. If He equips me, how can I fail? If He gives me the words, where is my concern? If He goes before me, I'll be just fine. So stop looking around you. You might want to even stop looking in the mirror. And just look at Him. He made you and He's pretty darn proud of you. I promise. Read More... |
| 152. Feelings of Inadequacy |
| From Youth Specialties on Wednesday, February 20, 2013 @ 5:00 AM PST in the "Resources" Category. Ever look to the left of you? And then to the right. And then back to the left again. And just feel overwhelmingly small? Insignificant? Unimportant? Inadequate? I have. LOTS of times. In fact, I struggle with those kinds of feelings far too often. I had a season in junior high / early high school where I was teased, bullied and ridiculed quite frequently. And I think the residue of that still sticks with me. As that hurt and rejected young man, I often thought to myself, "How can I ever measure up?" It seemed like everyone around me was pointing fingers, looking down at me, and utterly unimpressed at who I was -- who I was trying to be. Maybe you experienced something like that at some point in your life. It's easy to let that carry over into your adult life. Here I am. I'm 35 years old. I have about fifteen years of youth ministry experience under my belt. Lots of wins. And, yes, lots of fails. I've learned and grown considerably through it all. And I'm about to help launch a student ministry at our new church. I can still feel the fingers pointing at me. I still look to the left. And to the right. And to the left again. And I wonder to myself, "Am I really relevant anymore? Should I even be doing this? Are the students just gonna laugh?" And I start to feel really inadequate. It's only when I allow Jesus into the conversation that my landscape begins to change. Because when Jesus comes on the scene, He shines light on the dark places inside my spirit-man. He uncovers the lies that I believed, even from way back in junior high school, that have held on and eroded away at the truth. The truth that I am called and equipped by the One who fashioned and formed me. When I talk to Jesus about this, His response is, "Stop comparing yourself, Jack! -- in true Duck Dynasty fashion, because you know that He loves that show -- I didn't mold you or make you to do things like the good ol' boy down the road. I created you to be YOU. So just stop trying to be Joe-Preacher, or Slick-ProPresenter or Awesome-UpFrontGame-Challenge-Dude! Just be you and you'll be the most content, happy and fulfilled youth pastor in the neighborhood." Or at least, that's how He says it in my head. When I start to remember that my identity, my gifts and my calling are from Him, I begin to be able to let go of my feelings of inadequacy. If He equips me, how can I fail? If He gives me the words, where is my concern? If He goes before me, I'll be just fine. So stop looking around you. You might want to even stop looking in the mirror. And just look at Him. He made you and He's pretty darn proud of you. I promise. Read More... |
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